Pretty good. It's about people and our relationships. He faced no real hardship throughout the book, but lived a full life even though he was confined to a single building. He really wanted for nothing. Circumstance seemed to always provide him with plenty – plenty to do, and plenty in general. It's generally very philosophical and wants us to examine the lives we lead and the people we encounter along the way. And it gives perspective on age and our view of the world. Overall very engaging
Excellent and well-told stories of Greek mythology come together to almost form a full narrative – the original myths themselves are almost entirely self-contained, so to have a narrative stringing them together is a breath of fresh air. There were some myths (those of Herakles, Icarus and Jason) that I wish were told here, but as Fry states in the afterword, that would have been a MUCH longer book. Stephen Fry takes some liberties with the story-telling to add the proper depth of character and breath of real life, and with his English wit and some tongue-in-cheek wordplay, this really is a marvelous retelling of the myths I learned as a child.
A hint – find the audio format of this book narrated by Fry himself, it adds a lot of character.
232 Books
See all